Child’s school lunch thrown away over 26 cents

Washington – A father says his son was humiliated after a cafeteria worker threw out his lunch at school for not having enough money to pay for it. As reported by KOMO News, Jimmie Keys says his son’s lunch was thrown out twice in one week, after he was 26 cents short of the 40 cents needed to buy a lunch at Mill Creek Middle School.

Keys went to the school district headquarters after calling Problem Solvers about the issue. He is quoted as stating, “He gets up to the front and they say there’s not enough in his account, so they take his food, and in front of him, throw it away.”

A reported 19,000 meals are served each day in the Kent schools, which have an estimated 28,000 students. A number of students pay for their lunches out of meal accounts, which parents can add money to with credit or debit cards.

School district spokesperson Chris Loftis said the incident should not have taken place. Loftis is quoted in the report as stating, “I just have to say sorry to this student, sorry to the parents… We made a mistake, we need to fix it, we’re sorry.”